Five years
by TheFantasticJess
Summary: Summary: Matthew was a kid who thought he had problems, an abusive father and a twin brother who never understood him, until he meets an albino with a surprising past, but finds out something shocking, the man only has 5 years left to live due to his cancer. He also finds a new fact about the man. He is the personification of the dying Prussian Empire here to apologize for sins.


(**This is a pretty crappy and old fanfic I found through some old documents but it might work out to be a fanfic. I'm not going to continue this probably.) **

The cool fall air had whipped around the silver-haired man like a blanket, his little bird following him, he walked through the parks, not saying anything to a person there, and that's when he saw somebody different from these people, sitting in a park bench...

Matthew had gotten used to being ignored. He didn't mind it much anymore, really. Of course, it hurt when his brother forgot about him, or his father, but as a whole, after years of the same, he'd grown accustomed to being alone. And so he sat on the park bench, watching people pass, but watching the birds in the trees and the squirrels on the ground much more. After all, once in a while, one of those animals would be startled by his presence, reminding him he was still there. That was when that strange person looked at him... the one with silver hair and red eyes. He blinked, questioning, wondering if he'd imagined it.

This man had a cold-hearted past, working for a boss who only wanted blood-shed and violence, who made him into this figure of fear...An albino...People would make accusing stares at him or tell him what he did to ruin this world, but he never remembered when he was a soft, sweet, child...All he remembered was seeing the world through blood-red eyes...But that person sitting in the bench almost made the man's surroundings vanish..

After a glance that turned into a stare, and probably lasted far too long for either of them to be fully comfortable with it, Matthew stood. He felt as if he didn't have control of his actions, taking a few tentative steps toward the other. He found his voice lost, couldn't remember the last time he used it, but he spoke quietly, barely above a whisper. "Are... are you.. looking at me..?"

The man didn't speak at all, he had a rough German accent that scared people, but he took a few steps in front of this other person, and for the first time in 10 months, he spoke again, but softly to hide his accent, "J-ja...I am...I'm sorry...I just feel like I know you..." The man wasn't too happy to see another normal human, Blonde hair, pink skin, but he had a strange curl come from his hair, and his eyes were much too dark of a blue...

Matthew shook his head, offering a tiny smile. "It's all right. I was just... surprised. No-one ever looks at me," he had no idea why he was being so honest, or why he was so drawn to this gruff man. But he could see the softness behind his eyes.

The man looked to his shoes, "Everybody looks at me...But I suppose you get used to it... Every day it's the same thing...Make fun of the albino..." The once-stiff man shed a tear, and looked away.

"I like your eyes-" Matthew's eyes widened as he realized what he had said, turning bright red as he put his hand over mouth, mumbling apologies behind it. "No-that'snot-Imean-Idon'tthinkyou're-weirdoranyth ing-"

The man sighed, and actually smiled, though it looked more like a grimace, and blushed a little himself, looking at the younger man with those crimson eyes, and said a simple, "Danke."

The other calmed down at the thank you, nodding and taking a deep breath, the bright red slowly fading from his cheeks. "...I'm Matthew."

The man looked at the grey skies, seeing it would snow soon, "I'm Gilbert," he said, then turning to do another smile attempt at Matthew.

Matthew recognized it, smiling back in return. "Gilbert. Where are you from?"

He kind of shivered, not clearly wanting to say, but he tried not to be stubborn, "E-East Germany...How about you?

"Canada. But, I've sort of lived all over the country," he explained sheepishly. "It doesn't matter, really. It's all the same anywhere you go, right?"

"J-Ja...Everywhere..." The man said..."D-Do you vant to go get some coffee with me before it snows?"

The younger male's eyes lit up, an expression of happiness that he was sure he hadn't made in a very long time. "Yes! I.. I'd really like that," he replied. He didn't know why, but he was so drawn to this person...

The man laughed a bit, feeling his stiff face soften when he was around the younger one. He walked a block with this interesting person and they went into a barely-occupied coffee shop that was nice and warm. Gilbert ordered two coffees as he took off his coat and scarf.

Matthew, who hadn't been terribly bundled up, slipped off his gloves and scarf, but did not remove his heavy sweater. "Thank you," he said, finding himself smiling softly yet again as he accepted the hot drink.

Gilbert drank his coffee. "There's something I should tell you." He looked into the boy's eyes very sadly. "Back when i was in Europe, I found out that I have blood cancer...but I'm going to die in five years...So I moved here to Canada because...It is so beautiful here...When I die, I want to die in Canada..." Tears fell down his pale face.

"I... I see," Matthew frowned, nodding sadly in return. "Then..." the shy Canadian reached over, timidly placing a hand over one of the ones that held Gilbert's cup. "You should make the last five years a happy one."

He let out another pained smile, "There's a chance I could survive, but my condition is really that serious, for the last year of it, I'll have to be hospitalized...So I'm trying to make a living here. But your words really touched my heart."

Matthew shook his head, removing his hand. "Five years is... a long time. You might... maybe... want a friend..?"

"I already have one, and he appears to be sitting across from me." He smiled at the Canadian..."But Matthew...Tell me about your life, you seem so interesting and almost dream-like..." Gilbert said.

Matthew shook his head, laughing. "I'm no-one interesting. I'm just the forgotten son and the boring brother."

"I didn't even have parents...Not even someone to raise me..." Gilbert said with a sigh, "But I once raised a little boy, he's much older now though..."

"Really?" Matthew looked truly surprised. "But, you don't look like you could be much older than I am..."

Gilbert looked at the Canadian confused. "You mean...you don't know about your real condition?"

"My real condition..?" Matthew replied, though it was unclear as to whether he was truly clueless or feigning.

"How you're special like me, I mean because we can age really fast and we have these unique features like that curl in your hair...I think i'm only 19 physically...So that would make you 18..."

"...Oh. Well, I suppose that makes sense..." Matthew mumbled.

The German looked into the Canadian's blue eyes and got lost into them again...Was this really happening...Was he really getting attracted to this handsome boy? Too many questions for now...He thought...

"Are you all right?" Matthew asked after a moment, meeting the other's eyes with slight concern. Perhaps that was a stupid question.

Gilbert couldn't look away, he just got lost...and he didn't have enough time to react when he did it, but he grabbed Matthew's collar and kissed him right there, full on the lips with passion...

The younger male squeaked with surprise, but relaxed surprisingly quickly, enough perhaps to let the other kiss him back. Any other person might worry that the sad story he had been told was a ploy to get the younger man to bed, but it didn't even cross Matthew's mind. This person that he found so interesting and had such a depressing future had pulled him in and kissed him - the first person who had looked at him in months. He couldn't help but kiss back.

For the first time in his life, Gilbert felt like he belonged there with Matt, the two of them kissing and Gilbert felt some of the steel heart he had melt away into a softer one. He didn't want his first kiss to end...ever.

Eventually, the two of them had to part to breathe. Matthew smiled at the other, his chest moving up and down as he attempted to catch his own breath, sitting back down and looking around. Had anyone even seen them..? What happened when the man who was stared at kissed the man that nobody saw?

Gilbert panted lightly, amazed at what he started, and he said something we knew could only be used truthfully, "I love you Matthew!"

Matthew's eyes widened, his cheeks red with blush. "R-really?" he asked, then remembered that the other only had five years, and he himself may never meet another person who even saw him, yet alone proclaimed love for him. "I... I love you, too."

Gilbert felt his cold and shallow personality go away...His skin wasn't as pale anymore, and he could smile perfectly, and he lost the rough aftertone of his voice...All because of Matthew.

"Where... where are you living right now, Gilbert?" Matthew asked, timidly.

.."A cheap rental hotel...It's all I can go without the stares.."

"Live with me...now..."


End file.
